Thomas James Nevin jnr was born in 1874 at the residence attached to his father’s photographic studio at 140 Elizabeth St, Hobart Town. He was the second child of Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin and the first son – his elder sister May (Mary Florence) was born in 1872).

Known as “Sonny” to family descendants, he travelled to California to reside there for a time with his wife Gertrude Tennyson Bates and his wife’s family who migrated there in the early 1900s. Both returned to Hobart and both died there, Thomas James in 1948, and Gertrude Bates in 1955.

The photograph above of Thomas J. Nevin jnr, known as Tom or Sonny, was taken ca. 1930 at 23 Newdegate St. North Hobart, by which time Sonny Nevin had joined the Salvation Army. He served as Sergeant until his death. He was listed in the electoral rolls for Denison in 1905 as a bootmaker.

Confusion with his father’s name has arisen from documents such as this one:

This document comes from State Library of Tasmania Special Collections Librarian Geoffrey Stilwell’s correspondence files on Thomas Nevin, written at the time he was researching the 1977 exhibition of Thomas Nevin’s Port Arthur convict photographs at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. It shows the addition in his hand of a “J” as a middle initial in Thomas Nevin’s name.

The “J” which has been inserted into Thomas Nevin’s name on this letter makes its appearance here because it is included in Nevin’s name – “T. J. Nevin” – on the studio stamp found on the verso of the Port Arthur convict photographs in the Mitchell Collection, State Library of NSW, and in the QVMAG Collection, Launceston.

The “J” also appears in the National Library of Australia catalogue entries for Thomas J. Nevin snr, and in book publications featuring Nevin’s photographs of Tasmanian convicts taken in the 1870s. Most of Thomas Nevin snr’s other portraits, stereographs and signatures on official documents carry the simpler “T. Nevin” or “Thos Nevin” imprint on mount or stamp on verso. The special printing of his stamp with full initials -“T. J. Nevin” – signifies Colonial Royal Warrant and official status as a photographer under government contract.

Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923)

Professional photographer Thomas James Nevin snr (1842-1923) produced large numbers of stereographs and cartes-de-visite within his commercial practice, and prisoner identification photographs on government contract. His career spanned nearly three decades, from the early 1860s to the late 1880s. He was one of the first photographers to work with the police in Australia, along with Charles Nettleton (Victoria) and Frazer Crawford (South Australia). His Tasmanian prisoner mugshots are among the earliest to survive in public collections, viz. the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston; the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart; the Tasmanian Heritage and Archives Office, Hobart; the Port Arthur Historic Site, Tasman Peninsula; the National Library of Australia, Canberra; and the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, Sydney. Thomas J. Nevin's stereographs and portraits are held in public and private collections in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland.

John Nevin snr (1808-1887)

Soldier, journalist, teacher and poet John Nevin snr (1808-1887). in the Royal Scots 1825-1841

Disclaimer

We have not voluntarily contributed to any publication which supports the misattribution of Nevin's prisoner/convict photographs (300+ extant) to the non-photographer A.H. Boyd, nor do we condone any attempts by public institutions or private individuals to co-opt the work on these Nevin weblogs and associated sites to apply the misattribution.

Old Chinese saying: "When you drink the water, remember who dug the well".

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